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Urcelay Promoted to CEO at Toys R Us

Toys R Us has taken the Interim tag off Antonio Urcelay and named him CEO on Oct. 16. The merchant also announced that former ServiceMaster and Walmart executive Hank Mullany has been named president, Toys R Us, U.S., effective Nov. 5.

Urcelay joined Toys R Us in 1996, and has been instrumental in “creating strategies to drive growth in global markets by placing an emphasis on thinking locally,” according to a press release.

Urcelay became interim CEO in May, three months after Gerald Storch announced he would transition from the CEO role, but remain with Toys R Us as Chairman of the Board.

Storch’s resignation came after a slow holiday season for Toys R Us. For the month of December, the U.S. Domestic segment reported a comparable store sales decrease of 1.8%, and total sales decrease of 1.9%.

Internationally, December comparable store sales declined 3.5% and total sales decreased by 4.1%.

In addition to taking over as interim CEO on May 1, Urcelay has been president of Toys R Us’s Europe division since July 2010.

According to an 8-K Toys R Us filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Urcelayt’s new annual salary will be 1 million euros ($1.37 million U.S.) and a target annual bonus of 150% of his annual base salary. He also received an acceptance bonus of 250,000 euros ($342,500 U.S.).

In his new position at Toys R Us, Mullany will oversee all merchandising, marketing, ecommerce and store operations responsibilities for the 878 U.S. store division. Mullany will report to Urcelay.

Toys R Us’s financial difficulties continued even after Storch’s February resignation announcement. For the second quarter ended Aug. 3, comparable store net sales were down 3.5% in the Domestic segment and 3.8% in the International segment. Net sales were $2.4 billion, a decrease of $175 million or 6.9% versus the prior year.

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